The Power of The Father Connection – By Thomas J. Koester

Never underestimate the power, authority, and security of a father’s connection. There is nothing on earth that can take its place.

Since time began, power was, and is, the principal motivator of life. Whoever wields power has control, authority, and security. If you think about it, these three things are essential for just about any group of people. In fact, they are essential for a healthy family.

This is why family is so important. It is the very fabric that holds society together.

Whether you agree or not, God instituted family. He derived the construct from his trinitary-self of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, wife, and child are by design, God’s reflective image of himself into creation.

God first creates man, then woman, then from their union, offspring. God shares with man his power, giving him control, authority, and security. He places man in the center of paradise and says you tend it, cultivate it, rule over it, and honor its boundaries (security).

Fundamentally, our identity, personhood, and security come from our families and principally from our fathers. The most primal and significant connection we can have on earth begins with our fathers. It’s not an option—it’s foundational!

This is why fatherhood is under such terrible assault. It is the most strategic and essential part of God’s design and image. Destroy the image of fathers, and you destroy the image of Father-God. Turn the children from their fathers, and you’ll frustrate and hinder children from finding their Heavenly Father.

When fathers and children turn away from each other, the family crumbles. When this becomes the norm, marriages crumble, and children become aimless and disenfranchised from the safety of paternal authority, control, and security. They become targets of destructive philosophies, ideologies, and influences.

The following is an excellent portrayal of the destructive force against fathers and family:

In the 1991 Movie “Hook,” starring Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robbin Williams as Peter Banning (Peter Pan), and Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning, Peter’s son; an interesting scene takes place between Captain Hook and little Jack Banning:

Hook: Such a pretty, pretty…. … What is that I hear? A ticking. Smee, stop the ticking! Stop that! Stop that “tick-tick”!

Smee: There’s no ticking here. There’s nothing left to tick.

Hook: This is for the ticking that might have been. Get his father’s watch!

Smee: Right.

Hook: Go on. You know you want to. Give it a try. Go on.

Jack: This is for..never letting me blow bubbles in my chocolate milk!

[he smashes his dad’s watch]

Smee: Yes!

Hook: Ha ha! Good form! Bravo!

Smee: There you go! Isn’t that wonderful?

Jack: This is for never letting me jump on my own bed.

[Jack smashes the watch again]

Hook: Make time stand still, laddie.

Jack: For always making promises and breaking them! For never doing anything with me.

[ Once again, Jack smashes the watch]

Hook: For a father who’s never there, Jack. Jack, for a father who didn’t save you on the ship.

Jack: [Sadly] Who wouldn’t save us….

Hook: Who couldn’t save you, Jack.

Jack: He wouldn’t. He didn’t even try. He was there, we were there, and he wouldn’t try.

Hook: Jack, he will try. And the question will be: When the time comes, do you want to be saved? Now, don’t you answer now. No, no, no, no. Now it’s time to be whatever you want to be. Put behind you any thoughts of home…that place of broken promises.

Jack: That what?

Hook: Have I ever made a promise, Jack… … I have not kept? Have I, son?

Did you read how the evil Hook exploits Jack’s wounds? Then Hook belittles his father, even to the point of “when the time comes, Jack, do you want to be saved?”

Hook continues, stealing the boy’s identity:

“…Now it’s time to be whatever you want to be. Put behind you any thoughts of home… … that place of broken promises.”

Not only does Hook steal the boy’s identity, he sinisterly robs him of his sense of belonging and then mischaracterizes Jack’s home “as a place of broken promises.”

Hook tops it off by reidentifying Jack as “his son.” He strikes Jack’s wound at the center of his heart, reminding Jack that his dad is weak, a liar, and a man of broken promises.

“Hook: Have I ever made a promise, Jack… … I have not kept? – Have I, son?”

I truly believe that this clever and well-written movie accurately illustrates how evil destroys fathers, families, children, and homes.

In the last book of the Old Testament, the last chapter and the last two verses read:

“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6

The fulfillment of this Malachi prophecy occurs in the First Chapter of Luke 1:17. John The Baptist prepared the way for Jesus Christ, whose mission was to redeem the lost sons of Adam.

When fathers and children remain estranged and God’s salvation is averted, the land, culture, and society become cursed. It is undeniable that our land, America, has been cursed.

Fathers, do whatever it takes to connect with your kids. Kids, do whatever it takes to connect with your fathers.

Sometimes, taking up our father’s interest in sports, hobbies, etc., is the only way we can connect with our fathers. His pastime becomes ours, and maybe the only bridge on earth to reach him and spend time with him.

However, I’d rather see fathers turn their hearts towards their children, enter their world, and connect with their likes.

The hearts of the fathers must initiate a turning back to their children, or there’s little hope for society, and maybe your family, too. Their best hope of connecting to God is their connecting with dad!

Fathers, your legacy is at risk – worse, your children’s future and eternity are at stake.

Never underestimate the power, authority, and security of a father’s role and his connection. There is nothing on earth that can take its place!

When Truth is Lost Love is Lost – By Thomas J. Koester

If you fight for Truth, you’re fighting for love, too.

Evil is most dangerous, not when it hides in obscurity, but when it is plainly flaunted; when it dances in the light and no one seems to care.

Society and culture is most dangerous when Truth is expunged from all sectors of education, authority, and governments.

You see, Truth isn’t toppled over night, that’s both impossible and impractical. Rather, Truth is slowly dismantled over time, through intentual gradualisim; through political and philosophical progressivism. What We see and understand as new philosophies, such as “wokeism,” “equity,” and “inclusion,” are ingeniously designed philosophies to deconstruct Truth.

Why? Why deconstruct Truth?

Because Truth is synonymous with freedom. Freedom is synonymous with self-governance and self-governance means small and limited government. Truth is our protection against tyrannical and demonic despots and a government that seeks to become our master.

This is why we must never cease our Love for Truth. If Truth is lost, Love is lost!

As Martin Luther King Jr. has once said:

“Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate; only love can do that.”

When evil that has been exposed by light and is darkened by our indifference, then even love has little hope of driving out hate.

Our society has completely flipped. What was once evil has become good, and what was once good has become evil. How about Harrison Butker, of the Kansas City Chiefs’ placekicker, and his amazing commencement address at Benedictine College on May 11, 2024? Everything which he addressed was bedrock truth. But he’s being attacked for insensitivity and for espousing hate speech. “Hate speech” is the new label for what used to be sound, biblical, and historical truth. This lable has, unfortunately, become the “new norm.”

Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He clearly understood how to change truth into lies and lies into truth.

“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Vladimir Lenin – April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924

And so, truth becomes lost to our children, as does the meaning of love.

Sex is no longer the act of consummating marriage but is an uncommitted, casual contact between two, maybe three or more humans. Sex has become merely a recreational act and is void of meaning, truthfulness, and love. When truth, and the consequences of ones actions have been removed, so also is the true meaning of love removed from relationships, our families, communities; all the way to the highest offices of the land.

Femininity and masculinity have been redefined away from historical and cultural norms. Your chromosomal makeup at conception and birth no longer conceals the truth of your sexuality. Really? The “new truth” says your sexuality is a choice, a mere preference. Or, you can simply decide to be non-binary without sexual identity. These “new truths” are becoming enshrined as new norms and therefore protected by anti-discrimination laws.

Ralph Keyes, a notable author and speaker, has said in his book, The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life:

“We are living in a post-truth era.”

He further writes:

“… This is post-truth. In the post-truth era, borders blur between truth and lies, honesty and dishonesty, fiction, and nonfiction. Deceiving others becomes a challenge, a game, and ultimately a habit. Research suggests that the average American tells lies on a daily basis. These fibs run the gamut from “I like sushi,” to “I love you.”

There is no more denying the fact that 85 to 90 percent of America’s News Agencies are no longer after truth, but salacious morsels of lies, misstatements, innuendos, rumors and gossip, all of which are used to create and shape stories or events. This propels politicians or ideologies towards unpopular agendas that we all allow to become law, and not necessarily in favor of the Republic, nor its political, economical or educational future.

Facts, truth, and context are ingredients that are purposely left out of important stories, as truth may become too damaging or too politically incorrect, or it may be too offensive. Ideology has become more important than truth. Hate, not love, is purposely weaponized to move agendas that are void of common sense and common decency. Love, honor, and respect are nowhere in sight and are replaced with lies and cover-ups.

So, out of “sensitivity,” we lie. For the sake of political ambition, we lie. For the sake of legislation, we lie. For the sake of “National Security,” we lie. We lie and lie about all these significant national and societal changing events.

For example, legislation that delivers health insurance for the uninsured, but then impacts those with health insurance, which in turn causes them to lose the insurance due to cost. And, their doctor? Well, he had to take an early retirement due to oppressive regulations and a reduction in pay.

This happened under the guise of “truth” and “fairness.” The politicians used lies to force an “Affordable” Healthcare Care system, which, by design, became an unaffordable healthcare system that would eventually force us all into a single-payer system of socialized redistributive medical services.

The Bible says, in Mathew chapter 5, verse 37:

“Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

So, in matters of oaths and speaking truth, if we say yes, but mean no, or say no, but mean yes, our words come from the evil one – from the dark side.

We are all capable of lying. But,when a society accepts lies and miss-truths from its leadership, tenured educators, politicians and news outlets and cable networks, the whole of our culture and society follows suit, and we then become a Nation of liars and therefore become enslaved to lies. Lies leads people to slavery and not freedom. Lies leave us uninformed.

A notable politician and former presidential candidate has said:

“We want people to be uniformed but compliant.”

… Hmm, uninformed? … Compliant?

… In other words, politicians want us, no, they demand that we accept lies and ignore truth, and if we become “compliant,” we shall have peace. People, this is straight from the Father of Lies!

You see, when truth can no longer be tolerated or is too politically insensitive, we allow ourselves to become uninformed. And, if uninformed, we then become compliant, as there are no boundaries between truth and lies. No more ethical “black and white” as everything becomes gray and meaningless.

Relativism is replacing realism. Reality TV is actually un-reality TV, portraying and selling itself as the new norm, as the “new truth.”

When truth is lost, love is lost. Because love, real love, requires truth. Real love is colorful, not gray, and sadly, the days are becoming more and more gray.

To be uninformed and compliant is the definition of slavery. For you become a slave to whatever and whomever has mastered you.

If you fight for Truth, you’re fighting for Love, too.

Truth or Lies?

The choice is yours. Choose Truth, and Love wins also.

The False Prophets of The Political Left – By Thomas J. Koester

If you listen to a lie long enough, it unfortunately will replace truth.

Balaam was an authentic Old Testament prophet of God. However, he was a greedy prophet who was approached by the King of the Moabites. The king greatly feared the Israelites and offered Balaam a great deal of money to curse Moses and the Israelite people. – Numbers, chapters 21-25

So, Balaam tried several times to curse Moses and God’s people.

Each time Balaam intended to proclaim a curse, he could only bless God’s people. So the king grew tired and fired the wayward prophet.

Balaam went home defeated and unpaid.

Balaam, still determined to please the Moabite King, thought of a way to curse God’s people. He decided to make a new deal with the King. He told the King that while God prevented him from declaring a curse and instead only a blessing, he thought of a way to get God’s people to sin. He further explained that God would remove his protection from his people, making the Israelites vulnerable to attack.

So the Moabite King agreed, and the King sent in his prostitutes and idolaters.

The prostitutes slept with the men of Israel, and the women purchased the idols and began worshiping the gods of Moab. God saw from Heaven the sin in the camp of Israel. He, therefore, removed his blessing of protection, and so the people started to die.

People, this is happening right now through Biden’s executive orders and the intentions of the House leaders. Their wokeism and Leftist ideologies are inciting America to sin so that God’s blessings and protection will be removed. They are getting Americans to kill their unborn. The killing of its elderly, the perversion of justice, and the protection of pedophiles. We have tolerated the appointment of evil people to political positions and woke judges and DAs.

We are currently witnessing the politicisation of our judicial system and the rise of a new and dangerous terminology called “lawfare.” This new form of warfare is against America’s own citizens and political enemies of the far Left, using the courts to silence political detractors and so destroy justice.

Like the old prophet Balaam, these godless politicians worship power and money. They promote the advancement of Communism and Marxism. The destruction of our religious liberties and the indoctrination and perversion of our children.

The sins of America are causing God to remove His blessing, and His divine protection is lessening day by day.

We need our Pastors and Priests to be like Arron’s grandson, Phinehas, who acted with great zeal and reverence before the Lord. Phinehas acted while Moses and Arron talked about a solution rather than doing something. God was, therefore, pleased with Arron’s grandson, and so God stopped the death of His people, defeating the conspiracy of the King of Moab and the greedy prophet’s scheme.

“The Lord spoke to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my anger.” – Numbers 25: 10-11

We must stand against our day’s evil with great passion and zeal before the Lord. Instead, the past stolen election and national lockdown showed the Lord and the enemies of America that the American people do not have the passion and zeal to stop the advancement of evil and darkness.

Child pornography, child sex trafficking, and abortion haven’t caused a scintilla of righteous indignation of God’s people to the point of overwhelming action and response.

We are gutless people, and therefore, America will be gutted. The gutting of truth. The gutting of justice. The gutting of dignity. The gutting of prosperity. The gutting of fairness and the gutting of our liberties. God will not be mocked. Therefore, He is allowing America to become a mockery to the world!

Saints of God, stand your ground! Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Become the light of Christ. Be the salt of the earth. Be bold in your faith and obedience to Christ our King.

Patriots, Defend the Constitution. Stand up against tyranny, the cruel and oppressive rule of the Left. Push back against the Progressives. Support your godly and righteous representatives.

If we do not stand up for our faith and freedoms, we will surely fall as a nation, and great will its fall be!

Stop listening to the false prophets of the political left. Reject the false religion of wokeism.

Why We Have A Biden/Harris Administration – By Thomas J. Koester

Kings, Queens, and Presidents are not the people’s choice but God’s decision.

Historical events, like the Biden/Harris presidency, always begin on a spiritual level before we see these things in the physical.

Jesus, knowing the origin of divine governance, taught his disciples to pray in an orderly way:

“… thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it exists in Heaven.” – Matthew 6:10

God’s will and purpose always begin in Heaven before it happens here, on earth.

God moves the hearts of Kings, Queens, and Presidents by his own will and counsel. Throughout history, especially biblical history, it was not unusual for God to allow evil rulers to discipline his people and to use them to drive his people back to himself.

Do you think God is pleased with over 44,000 denominations or fractures within Christianity?

The valid but unfortunate question is, why does the Kingdom of Darkness enjoy near-perfect unity while Christianity and conservatism are woefully fragmented?

Wickedness faithfully coalesces around the satanic. But in Christianity, we can’t even agree on the operation and ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are fractured about whether the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are relevant today. We are fractured over the importance of theological intellectualism vs. trusting in the Holy Spirit as Guide and Teacher. We are fractured because many churches have exchanged sound biblical truth for relativism and for wrongfully dividing Scripture into categories of negotiable and non-negotiable truths.

Shouldn’t godly righteousness coalesce around unity in faith, belief, and in sound biblical doctrine? We’re not all listening and obeying the only Holy Spirit of Truth. If we were, we’d have perfect unity, surpassing that of the wicked.

Furthermore, mainstream Christianity believes that the Kingdom of God and the rule and reign of Jesus Christ are futuristic. What if they are wrong? What if all this time, we’ve rejected the reigning King Jesus within the hearts and minds of his people?

I think the Futurist’s, people who don’t believe in the present Kingdom of Heaven, are why there is such a lack of Christian unity and national righteousness. If you don’t believe in the rule and reign of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then you’ll willingly subjugate the church to secular democratic rule, and allow the State to reign over the church.

So not only have we insulted the Holy Spirit, but we’ve also said, based on our actions and false beliefs, “This King shall not reign over us!”

“… But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this king to reign over us!”– Luke 19:14

Christianity, as much, if not more so than Republicanism, is overrun and overruled by elitism and infiltrated with secular minded progressives. This is not by accident but by satanic design.

The corruption of Christianity and our lack of unity can be boiled down to unfaithfulness to God and Scripture and to the ill-treatment of the person and role of the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, our worship of the anointing rather than to whom the Anointer points has caused many to fall into the worship of demons.

All of this is why our country, and for that matter, all free nations, fall under Marxist-Socialism.

Christianity has willingly abdicated most of its authority and mission to the State, in exchange for a 501(c)(3) tax break!

Is it possible that God just might be allowing a Biden/Harris administration to expose the false Church and to accentuate the purity and honor of His true Church?

You can be sure that God’s plan is to restore, although he may tear down first.

As Jill Phillips, a singer-songwriter, has penned in her song, “Wrecking Ball,”

“… God is both the builder and the wrecking ball.”

And this may be why we have a Biden/Harris administration.

The Great Reversal – By Thomas J. Koester

Fascism is the absence of common sense and is designed to exploit common decency until the indecent rules everything.

Isn’t that the exact reverse of normalcy? Our society and culture being ruled by indecent people?

How do we stop “wokeism” and the cultural decay it causes to our liberties?

Doing nothing is not an option. Our churches and pastors remaining silent on the philosophical descent into cultural hell must stop! Passivity is not an option!

Descending into hell is easy; the gravitational pull of passivity and apathy is the devil’s specialty.

Passivity is the unfortunate welcome mat that always leads to personal and national disaster.

Real men flourish when they battle the evil of their time. Doing nothing destroys the masculine soul. Men, at all cost, avoid passivity!

While many women are speaking out against men invading femininity, where are the men speaking out against the transitioning of boys and men into women? Where is your voice against women becoming men?

If nothing is said; if men shy away from defending traditional masculinity, fatherhood, and brotherhood, culture and society will reverse into the abominable.

The abominable cannot reproduce sons and daughters. Rather, they can only corrupt and convert your sons and your daughters to their ideology. Once the abominable reversal takes root, it will be irreversible.

Sadly, though, we have entered into a new era called:

“The Great Reversal”

That is, all that was once true is now false, and what was once false has become “true.” This Great Reversal is an engineered social-political and philosophical machine designed to destroy traditional values, and its purpose is to eliminate all value centers, including: marriage, family, fatherhood, gender, and any religious organization that denies the “new social norm.”

Your only antidote is to focus your heart and mind to Jesus Christ, who is the only Eternal and Unchanging Truth of God. Seek him while he can be found and before his truth is outlawed. The outlawing of all that speaks and promotes truth is happening all around us. Instead of truth, untruth is promoted to our children in their schools, colleges, universities, cable networks, Hollywood, and the Worldwide Web.

Canada is also going through a fierce assault on truth and reality. This leads me to ask, where will you go if we lose America?

This great reversal is creating a fascistic society here in America. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Those who accuse America as being fascist are themselves the fascists, all the while ignorant about fascism.

Fascism is the absence of common sense and is designed to exploit common decency until the indecent rules everything.

Do not become an agent for the Great Reversal. Uphold truth even if it’s unpopular. Speaking out may cause you to lose your job, friends, and family members. But the alternative is far worse, worse for you, your children, and your children’s children.

Understand the times in which you live.

Passivity is the unfortunate welcome mat that always leads to disaster.

There may be a time coming, whereby fighting for truth may cost more than your reputation.

Will you fight?

Real men flourish when they battle the evil of their time. Doing nothing destroys the masculine soul and any nation.

There was a time in history whereby most men, young, and middle-aged, clamored to join the armed forces to battle European communism, and again against North Korea, and then once more in Vietnam and Laos.

Men, do you not see that communism is already here, now, and all around you?

It didn’t arrive as a mechanized army, with planes, helicopters, and tanks in our air or on our beaches; it quietly arrived in our institutions, schools, colleges, universities, and yes, even in many so-called churches. It’s taken over our halls of congress, the Whitehouse, American corporations, and the entire TV and cable news broadcast industry.

We won’t be fighting the Chinese, North Koreans, and Russians. We’ll be fighting fellow Americans who have sold their minds to communistic professors and educators who turned your children into their homegrown revolutionaries! Heck, many of you even paid the tuition towards the demise of your own offspring!

But you didn’t notice the takeover because you chose to be silent, passive, and tolerant during the rise of The Great Reversal.

The push to reverse what we see, hear, and say is to force or trick us into denying the present reality. If we allow this to continue, reality will turn into hell.

Who is the author of the Great Reversal?

It is the ancient Father of Lies. He’s famous for twisting the truth. He began in the Halls of Heaven, being cast down to earth, where he’s been deceiving mankind over and over again, beginning in Eden. Now, over the past 130 years, his dark regime has been progressively destroying our values and replacing them with the satanic.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

The definition of “woe” is: 1. a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief, or 2. ruinous trouble, calamity, tragedy.

Boycotting is not enough to stop the Great Reversal. We all must find our voices and in unison shout, NO! Not today, tomorrow, or ever!

Real Hope For A Hopeless America – By Thomas Koester

The hope that is in every believer is real hope for a hopeless America.

We need to find our place in His Story so that we can leave our mark in history.

The Nazi-Socialist and their sick eugenics are alive and well in America. Their aim is a “perfect society” through science and political power.

Abortion was originally, according to Margret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, a form of “depopulating the blacks from society.” Just like the Nazis dehumanized Jews, Gays, Gypsies, and Christians, Margret Sanger, and her “Planned Parenthood” cohorts have dehumanized the unborn, especially the unborn of color. Now, since its inception, abortion has killed nearly 60 million unborn just in America alone.

You see, dictatorial and tyrannical control requires a manageable population. This is not only about the numbers of humans but also the dollars it takes to manage them. Coronavirus was, among many things, about the killing off, or shall I saw more humanely, euthanizing the elderly and the weakest among us. In addition, the killing off of businesses creates general economic ruin and caused melee in our cities and towns.

This was done to usher in a New Economic Order that will require efficiency and dependence. Don’t you realize that we validated their evil trial balloon by our compliance?

Efficiency, that is, a more manageable populace, and a more weakened people lowers the possibility of uncontrollable revolt. This is why patriotism and those patriotic institutions we all love must go. This is why “The Good Ole American Way” has been under assault. This is why football, baseball, basketball, and soccer have been ruined, and our American flag and our National Anthem desecrated. This is what’s behind the destruction of women’s sports! Everything that makes us America is slowly canceled and removed in order to take away our identity and patriotism.

All of this is not new. It’s how every great nation before us has fallen. The coronavirus was simply the mechanism the Left used to take away many of our freedoms and liberties. It was used to divide us and subjugate us to lawless mandates. The virus also preoccupied us, giving the Democratic Left cover for the grandest theft of all times, the Presidency of the United States, and to control all houses of government, both federal and local.

These things were necessary in order to usher in the New World Order and the “New Economy.” Or, as the Globalists have renamed it, “The Great Reset.”

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, is hard to grasp, when we see so many bad actors in our government and news media outlets. So we have to remind ourselves daily that this is foremost a spiritual battle, which has brazenly manifested itself in the world of men.

There is no question as to where this is all heading. Godly men and leaders, such as pastors, reverends, and priests no longer have the luxury of the status quo of a typical Sunday service or Mass. It’s time to raise up armies of intercessors and train and equip God’s people in evangelism and spiritual warfare!

“It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, ’cause [America] is going bye-bye.”

If we want America to survive, the Church must become the standard-bearer once again. It must lead America back to God, or God will allow our nation to spit us out!

But remember, we’re the Church, and our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom Gospel puts things in the right order without the aid of political power. As a matter of fact, the Church is most powerful under persecution.

When the Roman armies occupied First Century Israel and all of Palestine, did it deter Christianity, or did it propel it?

We know the answer—persecution became the Early Church’s rocket fuel and launched the Church into world evangelism!

“… And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” – Matthew 24:14

We know what our mission is. It’s not to cower in fear or shirk our responsibility or to proclaim that the rapture cometh. It is to stand fast, hold our ground; keep the faith, and engage darkness with the might and power of God of the Angel Armies. It is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and unleash the power of the Gospel, that is, The Good News against the Bad News of World Socialism.

If we die, it’s gain. If we live, it’s Christ, the power of God unto salvation. Let’s show and offer the World Jesus Christ. Let’s all become Jesus with skin on and hold fast to the attitude, humility, and power of Christ.

Whether we are free or in bondage, our job is to be the Church and the Triumphant Bride of Christ.

Like you, I don’t want to disappoint Jesus when he returns. I want him to not only find faith on earth but to find a bright, beautiful, and radiant bride!

So, come what may! The Devil and his minions will do their worst. The Church, we will do our best because we have the Spirit of Christ, the love for Truth, and have love for one another, or at least we should.

We will win because God has already won the victory in Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The ending of the story has already been written. Just make sure that your names are written in the Lambs Book of Life, and all will go well.

We need to find our place in His Story so that we can leave our mark in history.

The hope that is in every believer is real hope for a hopeless America. Amen

A Few Good Men – By Thomas J. Koester

History shouts, “It only takes a few good men!”

I Dare You To Become Greater Than Your Fathers. I dare you to become a real man!

A Few Good Men is an intergenerational and interdenominational movement of men for all ages. We believe that segregating our youth from the men in our churches, ministries, and communities is counter-productive to the process of raising our boys into strong men and leaders of tomorrow. We believe men, without the opportunity and access of our youth, are a terrible loss of potential and vice-versa.

Becoming a man is not a chronological process. You simply do not grow into manhood or masculinity. John Eldredge describes masculinity as “that quality or characteristic of manhood being passed through close proximity to boys.” You can not take a class or read a book on becoming a man. It is mystically and methodically passed through the process of mutual struggle and the sharing of life’s experience.

Many times, when older men share their struggles, losses, and defeats in a room full of young men, you’d think they’d be bored to tears. They’re not. They are inspired to open and share their own struggles, losses, and defeats. And when we have this kind of “open vulnerability,” change is possible. Community develops, and a band of brothers is formed.

“This story shall the good man teach his son; … From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered-We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition, from this day, till the end of the world” – William Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act IV, Scene III.

We need each other. A father needs a son, and a son needs a father. In a perfect world, each of us would have a present, communicative, warm, and loving father. He would be their to father us through each of life’s challenges, showing us the ropes, teaching us, and modeling how life is to be lived, fought for, and how to love and sacrifice.

It is the purging of our hurts, losses, and pains, which eases the suffering of becoming a man. It helps young men and boys to see the scars and wounds older men have amassed over the years. It helps because they learn they’re not alone, not misfits nor Martians. Life is hard. I said earlier, “In a perfect world, each of us would have a present, communicative, warm, and loving father;” this, however, isn’t reality.

Some of our deepest wounds were delivered by our dads. And, because it was our dads, the wound is life altering and disruptive; it takes many of us “off course” from the path of our intended journey.

Most of us have not been invited into manhood but have entered in, without guidance and the advantage of a present and available father. We are lost. Lost sons and then lost men. Most of us men are simply aged boys. We’re stuck and trapped, and inside is a small and frightened boy. On the outside is the body of a man, pretending to be a man on the inside. His life is carefully lived, concealing this truth.

If boys are to become men; or, if lost adult males are to become men; we must open up in a sanctuary (safe place) for us to share our stories. The telling of your story is the first step to being found.

One of my favorite movies is “Hook,”with Robin Williams as “Peter Panning” and Dustin Hoffman as “Captain Hook.” The scene where the Lost Boys have their early encounter with “Peter Panning, the Lawyer” was one of rejection and disbelief. “‘He’s not ‘The Pan,’ he’s fat and old!'”

The Lost Boys become divided; some believe he is “The Pan,”and others do not. Even Peter Panning thinks they’re all nuts. However, a little boy approaches Peter Panning. The little boy takes the face of Peter Panning into his hands and begins to shape it, looking for something lost, peering into his eyes. Suddenly, the boy lifts Peter’s sagging face into a smile, and the little boy exclaims; “Oh, there you are, Peter!”

You see, deep within you is that lost boy. You were knocked off your intended journey into manhood and masculinity. Somewhere, you became lost. It sometimes takes the brave young boy to look you deep into your soul and say, “There you are, Jeff! There you are, Bob! There you are, Mike, or John or Steve!” We need the youth, and the youth need us. Together, we find each other. Together, we become men.

We invite you; no, rather we call you to join A Few Good Men. I dare you to be greater than your fathers. You do indeed have what it takes. You are no longer a lost boy but found, wanted, and needed.

Join us in becoming men. Men of honor. Men of God. A Few Good Men!

The American Marxist-Jihadist – By Thomas J. Koester

The melding of Fanatical Jihadist and Marxist-Socialism is what led to the death of many Jews, Christians, Gypsies, and homosexuals during the rule of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party. This is an unknown fact of history. However, I saw it firsthand during my youth, and it’s a part of my personal story.

When I was a teenager, my boss, who was an Arab-American, was married to a German-American woman, and they constantly invited me to their Nazi meetings each week. I’ve also been to my bosses home in Pleasant Hill, delivering furniture from time to time, where I saw many relics of Naziism.

During their meetings, they would hang out their Nazi flags, lay out their hate-filled pamphlets, and hold their meetings in the very furniture store showroom that I had worked at. This was in the City of Pleasant Hill, California, and the year was 1977.

My boss would chase Jewish and Black Americans out of the store, and he forbade me from buying my lunch from the Jewish deli a block away from the furniture store. I quit the job when I understood what was going on and especially when I brought one of the Nazi pamphlets home for my parents to read, and who were shocked how this could be happening in America and in our own small town and county!

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” is what has both created, and still to this day maintains this evil axis.

The same evil axis exists between a rapid and rising National Socialistic/Progressive infiltration of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. Jihadist fanaticism has seriously embedded itself into nearly all sectors of our government.

It doesn’t matter whether by Sharia Law or Communistic Totalitarianism, the USA has already been infiltrated by both political systems and our government, and many of our elected and appointed officials are complicit and guilty of this axis.

With mass media already under their control, there may not be one true American and Constitutionalist who can win a national election. We’ll have to see if this holds true this November 5, 2024.

With the influence of the Progressives in the Democratic Party, pushing the party towards Amnesty, once approved and signed into law, it will be all over folks! The whole open borders issue is by design and is one of the most destructive, anti-American efforts of the left, including those within the Democratic Party with jihadist sympathies.

It’s long past the time for every freedom and liberty loving American to stand up, whether Christian, Jewish, Catholic; Islamic or atheist, we’ve lost our Nation while we segregated ourselves by our religions and the cold dead traditions of men.

We lost our inertia to fight because the progressives kept us occupied with our own conservative talking heads—oh how very clever!

We ceased the role as American Watchmen of our own Government in exchange for watching stocks and bonds and our real estate values rise and fall.

So, my dear fellow Americans, we are now finally ripe for our new master’s harvest, and it will not end in a festival, but in slavery.

You’ll Not Find Me There – By Thomas Koester

I’m not in your work, so why do you lose yourself there?

The Barna Group and USA Today have estimated that 3,500 people walk away from church each day. Of these dechurched people, 80% are from the age group of 14-33.

It’s interesting that the single greatest issue reported by these people walking away from the Church is due to a lack of connectedness.

What does this mean?

It may mean that while people are looking for spiritual connectedness, our youth are not finding it in Church! So, they leave the organized Church looking for God elsewhere. Is it possible that in many churches today, God is not there?

I remember several years ago, Toni and I visited a church in Sonora, California. For the City of Sonora, it was considered one of the largest churches. We walked in and then later out of the church without any welcome or introduction. On our way to our car, I asked Toni,

“Honey, do you think we’re invisible?”

We then visited another church in Sonora and were ambushed by teens and adults with hands held out and warm greetings. Afterward, several people were genuinely interested in us. At one touching moment, a young man introduced himself and offered to pray over my back, as he noticed the pain I was in from a recent collision with a Hummer on Interstate HWY-4.

The stark difference between these two churches we visited, while anecdotal, seems to jive with the Barna Group’s study.

Needless to say, we joined the Church where we not only felt connected but became vital to that body of believers. In other words, the people there took the time to know us, understand our spiritual gifts, and, so, plugged us in to serve.

So, I want to tell my estranged fellow believers, “Don’t give up on the Church and find God there.” Like in most things and in many people there are good ones and not so good ones. Keep searching until you find a church you can call family and become vitality connected and useful.

Complacency and apathy do not belong in God’s people and in His Church. Yet, for many churches, their lack of utilizing people’s spiritual gifts breeds complacency and apathy. And so, sadly, many people become church dropouts.

Your spiritual gifts matter, and never settle for you or the gifts that God gave you to be benched or shelved. Your spiritual vitality and health are important to God and in the right Church also. Be humble and patient with God’s spiritual gifts, but also be wise and discerning.

So, to my dechurched brothers and sisters, I want to challenge and invite you back to God. To tell you that Jesus is there, where He said He would be if two or three are gathered together in His Name.

I am not on the internet, so why are you searching there?

I’m not in your work, so why do you lose yourself there?

I’m not in your affairs or hookups, so why do you hide there?

Is it because you no longer believe in Me or see Me that you continue to wander aimlessly? Is that why you have no fear of Me because I don’t shout and yell at you?

Is that why you trust more in things than in Me?

You’re hanging too tightly to the temporal things at the expense of the eternal!

It doesn’t matter how many Sunday services you attend. It’s your secret life that is denying your belief in Me. Your lack of connectedness in Church stems from your lack of connectedness to Me!

Your Sunday morning “hallelujahs” and “amens” mean nothing to Me without your holiness and devotion. I’m supposed to be in your heart and not in your religious ambitions.

I’m pleading with you to return to Me, even though you’re chasing shadows and lingering in sin, I’m still not willing for you to perish. All your difficulties are not a string of bad luck. It’s Me, dealing with you as a faithful Father!

You will not find Me in the false gods you love; in A.I., Tictok, X, Meta, or Instagram. People are into those things, not Me, I’m here, inside your heart—whispering My heavenly will, which is uniquely designed for you.

Take out the trash in your heart and mind. Ask Me to create in you a clean heart and clear head. All you have to do is admit your sins, cry your eyes out, and invite Me in. I don’t want to judge you—I want to love you!

Turn away from darkness, and come back into the light. I won’t shame you, I want to tame your feral heart. I want to quiet all that hateful self-talk you’re constantly muttering at yourself. Those nasty voices come from the deep broken places that you’ll not let me heal.

Hasn’t my Son, Jesus, convinced you enough that I’m in love with you? I want you here with Me in Heaven so that Father and Son can be with you there on earth.

I know that’s what you want because I put that desire in you before I created you. So, stop holding hands with sin and the devil! He wants you in hell. I want you here with Me. You’ll not find Me there in the devil’s darkness. I’m over here, in the Light of My Word, and in Jesus, My Son.

If you want the devil to stop harassing you and your soul to cease its pain, seek Me with all your heart and weary soul. I’ll be found. I’m not the one hiding.

You’ll Not Find Me There, because I’m over here—I’ve never left!

Hard Fought Happily-Ever-After — By Thomas J. Koester

Because every love story has an adversary!

Love is worth the battle—you are worth battling for. Don’t surrender. Your story is not over!

An adversary and a battle always precedes a happily-ever-after. Not only is this true for every romance and marriage, but it is also true of our faith. Storytellers and movie-makers are consistently using this theme over and over again.

What kind of romance, marriage, or faith would there be without an adversary and without a battle? Wouldn’t a movie or story be boring without an adversary and without battle?

After all, adventure, battle, and beauty are within our DNA—within the very depths of our hearts and souls.

As a matter of fact, the themes of an adventure, battle, and beauty are actually borrowed from God’s story of his crowning creation, that is, Adam and Eve. First, he creates them, then loses them to the Serpent’s craftiness. Then, God pursues his creation until he later rescues mankind back from the adversary by sending our champion, Jesus Christ the Righteousness One. Not only does God rescue those he lost, but his Son delivers a death blow to our most wretched adversaries, Sin and Death!

“Will I ransom them from the power of the grave? Will I redeem them from death’s hold? Death, where are your diseases? Grave, where is your victory? — Hosea 13:14

“Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” — 1 Corinthians 15:56-57

“But the LORD says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.” — Isaiah 49:25

And, for those who believe, this is not quite the end of God’s story—not by a long shot! He is preparing a place for us, our happily-ever-after. A place where all adversaries, including sin, death, disease, and the devil; where all loss, decay and brokenness, and even our tears will be forever vanquished.

So, don’t despise hardships and adversities, with it comes a life worth living and a God who, not only loves to come through for his children, but trains us through our adversities and battles, to come through for those whom we love, including strangers that God brings across our paths.

“A song of David. Praise the Lord! He is my rock. He prepares me for war. He trains me for battle.” — Psalms 144: 1.

Happily-Ever-After is worth the scars and setbacks, for life and true living are their reward.

“But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.” — Hebrews 10:39

Stand your ground. Cling to your faith. Be brave and upright. Hold to the truth. Love fiercely and never give up on others.

“For I consider that our present sufferings can not even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us.” — Romans 8:18

“What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” — Romans 8:31

Engage your battles as a victor and never as a victim. For you are a true Child of God after all and your Heavenly Father, well He’s the God of the Angel Armies!

God is your happily-ever-after. He fights for you!